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RESTAURANT

Jimmy (of New Parthenon)
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The cast of "Tony n' Tina's Wedding" features four Jewish cast members all pretending
to be part of a large Italian family. They include, left to right: Lisa Maxine Mellin as
Tina, the bride; Adam Rockhind as Johnny Nunzio, the groom's brother; Henrietta
Hermelin as Grandma Nunzio; and Stan Newman as Uncle Louie.

I/2 Off

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Interactive theater
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TART
audiences.
T $4 95

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f you've ever been bitten by the
acting bug, you can find three
different ways of biting back
this theater season.
Members of Detroit's premier the-
ater family — the Nederlanders —
have backed a trio of interactive pro-
ductions and encourage audiences to
join improv performers in advancing
the action of each comedy.
Dialogue with the characters. Eat
with the characters. Dance with the
characters. Take a bow with the
characters and give yourself a hand.
After all, along the way, you've
become a character who makes a dif-
ference in the show without having
to audition, memorize lines or go to
a rehearsal.
It all started almost a year ago with
Tony n' Tina's Wedding in Pontiac, where
Italian customs are celebrated during a
ceremony and reception. Added to that
in Pontiac last month has been
Flanagan Wake, which follows Irish tra-

ditions while remembering a life with
music, stories and poems.
The next venture, scheduled to
open in December at the Masonic
Temple, explores the African
American culture through Big Mama's
Wedding. Soul music and food invigo-
rate this rite of passage.
Although the Nederlanders have
divorced themselves from the first two
projects, turning over custody to
Roselie Bellanca Posselius at the Baci
Theatre, they are engaged with the
third, now in rehearsal.
"We've always been interested in the-
atrical development in Detroit and gen-
erally put up a show for a finite period
of time," explains David Nederlander, a
third-generation showbiz enthusiast
who worked on producing and promot-
ing the interactive productions in
Michigan. If any show catches on, we
extend it as we did with Annie, Les
Miserables and Fiddler on the Roof
"One of our goals is creating new
audiences, which we are hoping for
with interactive theater, now thriving
in other major cities. The League of
New York Theaters recently published
a report on the growth in attendance
at these kinds of comedies.
"I think everybody enjoys a show
that has exuberant dancing, memo-
rable songs and funny dialogue, and
interactive theater has all that and the
chance to be an actor or an actress for
a moment."
Barbara Woolf-Packard, who
recently saw Tony n' Tina, agrees.
"When my husband and I were
dancing at the wedding, a nun from the
cast came over and tapped us as soon as

we kissed," recalls Woolf-Packard.
"While we were sitting and eating, the
cast caterer came over and did some-
thing with cheese. It was fun and differ-
ent, and I really did feel like part of the
play. That was a good feeling."
Also having some good feelings
about their interactive experiences are
four Jewish cast members in Tony n'
Tina's Wedding— Lisa Melinn (Tina),
Adam Rockhind (Johnny Nunzio, the
groom's brother), Henrietta Hermelin
(Grandma Nunzio) and Stan Newman
(Uncle Louie).
"I saw the show before I audi-
tioned, and I thought the interaction
was great," says Melinn, a graduate of
the Syracuse University drama pro-
gram formerly working with a touring
company of the Second City comedy
troupe. "It's more like a party, and we
try to get members of the audience
out of their chairs. The spontaneity
keeps it a different play each time."
Melinn, who also studied theater in
Israel, always is mindful that there are
some people who want to break her char-
acter and comes prepared to respond.
"I never get tired of this," Melinn says.
Rochkind, a West Bloomfield High
School senior and four-time actor
with the Jewish Ensemble Theatre
(JET), likes the regular work and finds
he gets better organized with all of his
responsibilities, including homework,
when he is in a play.
"This is a good time, and with the
interactive theater, I can spot cute girls
in the audience and ask them to
dance," Rockhind says.
Hermelin, naturally friendly, enjoys
talking to audience members and